Activison faces lawsuit, says MMO market is "insurmountable"

by Mike Schramm Feb 28th 2008 at 2:30PM

Two bits of news about soon to-be-Blizzard's-overlords Activision: first, a group of investors are apparently planning to sue Activision about the whole merger thing, apparently saying that Activision didn't do enough to cash in on the deal. They're complaining that in the deal with Vivendi (Blizzard's owners), Activision settled for an "unfavorable minority poisition." The company hasn't responded yet, but if this lawsuit goes forward, we could find out a whole lot more about the exact terms of the deal between the two companies.

And for their own part, Activision is thrilled to be in the business of Warcraft: Activision CEO Bobby Kotick sees MMOs as an "insurmountable product category," and says that if they were competing with WoW, they'd have to toss at least half a billion to a billion dollars into the deal, and even then they wouldn't be guaranteed success. Which means that at this time, in this market, Kotick says that companies entering into the MMO market are basically throwing money away.

Can't say we're surprised that the CEO of the company that now owns WoW says it's unbeatable, but as you know by now, EA and Funcom (Warhammer Online and Age of Conan's publishers, respectively) surely disagree. We should see who's right by the end of the year.

[Via Incgamers]

Tags: activision, age-of-conan, blizzard, bobby-kotick, ceo, lawsuit, mmos, vivendi, warhammer-online

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Blizzard, News items

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Senior Coconut Feb 28th 2008 2:59PM

I haven't seen that much pointless chest beating since the last time I hunted Mistvale gorillas in Stranglethorn.

That "insurmountability" is exactly how everyone used to describe EverQuest. Even on the eve of WoWs release there were a lot of people doubting it could dethrone the then-king. And besides that, there are a couple of Korean MMOs (Lineage for one) that itself has millions of subscribers. To claim that WoW is the only major game in town is nuts.

Besides which, an MMO doesn't need 12 million subscribers to be successful or make money. I'll grant that no one can kill WoW, but it only takes one amazing new game to get a lot of people to shift gears.

As for the $500 million investment, that's like talking about going from 0 to 100. Even WoW started off with a smaller subscription base of a few hundred thousand and has gradually grown to 12 million. Successful MMOs pay for their own growth basically.

Alchemistmerlin Feb 28th 2008 3:17PM

Lineage's numbers are a bit skewed by it being THE national MMO.

Otherwise, yes it is entirely possible that someone will come along and "Dethrone" WoW, I just don't think Warhammer (which is looking worse every time I read more about it) or Age of Conan (Which I have preordered, and still don't have my hopes up for) will do it.

I think it needs to be a different genre entirely. Maybe Star Trek Online?

kevan Feb 28th 2008 3:02PM

They ruined the Guitar Hero franchise...now they're after Warcraft!

Sakerin Feb 28th 2008 3:17PM

I really thought we had gotten all of these posts out of our system. This deal is old news and this post is just about additional details. The only thing you're doing is flamebaiting and trying to steer this post off topic.

kevan Feb 28th 2008 4:05PM

I apologize for not following the gaming/hobby industry closely enough in order to examine a blog post on an enthusiasts site. I will refrain from posting my comments in the comment section ever again.

Matdredalia Feb 28th 2008 3:41PM

I just wanted to point out something about the makers of Warhammer online disagreeing....

Considering the fact that Warhammer Online is quickly turning into the Duke Nukem Forever of MMO's.....I really, really doubt they've got much clout when it comes to disagreeing that WoW can't be dethroned.

Maybe, just maybe, they could dethrone it if they ever actually released Warhammer Online. But I doubt it.

Broken Bottle Feb 28th 2008 4:03PM

"Activision CEO Bobby Kotick sees MMOs as an "insurmountable product category," and says that if they were competing with WoW, they'd have to toss at least half a billion to a billion dollars into the deal"

this is one of the dumbest things I've read about MMOs ever. WOW is an aberration. It's so far and away more successful than any previous MMO that it can't possibly be used as a reasonable benchmark to gauge future MMO success. A new MMO that attracted 1M subscribers would pale in comparison to WOW and still dwarf everyone else out there. If Activision's CEO thinks that they have to do better than WOW to have a successful and profitable MMO then he needs to be relieved of his position immediately. There are tons of other MMOs out there that prove him wrong.

"EA and Funcom (Warhammer Online and Age of Conan's publishers, respectively) surely disagree. "

I think you're wrong there. I'm not sure about the Conan guys, but the last few interviews I've read about WAR indicate that they recognize WOW is off the charts and would be very satisfied and would be quite happy if the game was successful on it's own terms.

Again, WOW's just not a reasonable benchmark for measuring MMO success.

Artemis11 Feb 28th 2008 5:04PM

Am I the only one who read the title as saying that Activision was being sued because making a WoW-killer was "insurmountable?"

Sylythn Feb 28th 2008 6:05PM

Alchemistmerlin, I'd love for Trek to be the thing that takes market away from WoW - not only because it's the only MMO I'd switch for, but because it'd mean we FINALLY got a Trek game done RIGHT. Sadly, I have a feeling it'll be just as big a flop as all the other Trek games have been - the budget and backing just doesn't feel like it's there.